AI Resilience Report forOccupational Therapists

Right now, AI is mostly augmenting occupational therapists (OTs) — helping them work smarter — rather than replacing them. The biggest change is in paperwork. New "ambient scribe" tools listen quietly during a session and turn the conversation into a written clinical note, which tackles the exact core task the O*NET data flags as most automatable: recordkeeping.

A sister field's professional group explains that ambient scribe tools refer to systems that operate discreetly in the background and use artificial intelligence to automatically capture, transcribe, and summarize patient-provider interactions into structured clinical notes ^[1], and this technology is spreading fast into rehab therapy. AOTA's own trade magazine notes that AI is rapidly transforming health care by streamlining administrative tasks, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, and accelerating access to medical data ^[2] and can help OTs with client education, care coordination, and tailoring treatment plans.

For hands-on therapy — the exercises, coaching, and coordination work OTs are known for — AI is more of a helper than a replacement. A large 2026 umbrella review of AI in rehabilitation ^[3] found that rehabilitation faces a scale problem: millions who could benefit lack timely, effective services, and AI and device-based modalities like robotics and VR can extend reach and personalise care when validated, but it warned that across AI-enabled domains, a development-to-deployment performance drop is evident, most notably for brain–computer-interface classifiers and computer-vision movement evaluation, limiting immediate clinical impact. Translation: AI can support therapy planning and practice, but human OTs still make the calls.

Adoption is likely to be steady rather than explosive. On the fast side, healthcare is embracing AI quickly overall — McKinsey reports that adoption of AI is growing faster than any other technology in healthcare in many years ^[4], with tools like agentic AI and ambient listening being applied in areas such as prior authorization, claims management, revenue cycle management, contact center management, and medical charts and visit notes. Because documentation eats so much of an OT's day, scribes are an easy win for clinics.

On the slower side, OT is deeply hands-on, relationship-based, and demand for therapists is booming. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of occupational therapists to grow 15 percent from 2025 to 2035 ^[5], much faster than the average for all occupations, which means clinics need more humans, not fewer. Ethics matter too: AOTA emphasizes that for occupational therapy practitioners known for innovation and client-centered care, AI presents both opportunities and challenges ^[2], and OTPs need to be equipped to support, evaluate, and collaborate with clients who incorporate AI-generated health information into their care.

The takeaway for young people considering this career: AI will likely handle notes and some drills, freeing you up to do the empathetic, creative, human parts of therapy that machines still can't do. That's a pretty hopeful trade.